The creators of Ranbir Kapoor’s new TVC for a mobile company may have a winner on their hands. But the director of the actor’s next, Anurag Basu is mourning the loss of his film’s big surprise element. Ranbir’s vintage look, with the wispy white hair, moustache, large spectacles, baggy trousers, stiff body language, is precariously close to one of his fiercely-guarded looks in ‘Barfi!’ And Basu is not amused. When contacted, Basu confirmed the news, and added, “I was at the airport when I first caught a glimpse of Ranbir and that too on mute. I was shocked. I thought someone had put ‘Barfi!’s first look out there without my knowledge!” Basu says he made some frantic calls, and was told that it was an ad. “I caught the complete ad later and was taken aback with what I saw. Ranbir’s getup in the TV ad is almost identical to that of his old-age look in ‘Barfi!’. I was disappointed.” A source close to the film added, “Anurag was very angry. He and his producer UTV had taken great pains to keep the look under wraps. But with the ad, the look is out and so is the big surprise.” According to those in the know, the ad makers may have picked up the concept from Ranbir’s Blackberry, as he has his ‘Barfi!’ look as his display picture for a while. Basu does not deny being disappointed. But he is in an exceptionally forgiving mood. “What can I say and what can I do? I guess it had to happen this way. So it’s fine now.”
